Arizona Cardinals vs New Orleans Saints 2010 NFL Playoff Predictions, Picks & Odds: The Divisional round of the 2010 NFL Playoffs kicks off today with a meeting between the NFC West Champion Cardinals and the NFC South Champion Saints. The top seeded Saints will serve as host to Arizona, which eliminated the Packers in last weekend's Wild Card round. Today's game is scheduled to kickoff at 4:30pm ET at the Superdome; it will be broadcast live on FOX. 2010 NFL Playoff Predictions, Picks & Odds at online bookmaker SPORTSBETTING.com has the Saints listed as a -7 against the spread home favorite.
Cardinals Breakdown: Arizona did not garner a great deal of respect heading into last weekend's meeting with the Packers as 
they were the only home underdog in the Wild Card round. The Cardinals did their best to be taken seriously, though, scoring 51 points and racking 531 yards against the league's number two defense. However, they are still a sizeable dog coming into today's contest, against a team that has lost three straight games no less. The general feeling being that Arizona's defense will not be able to keep pace with the Saints high powered offense. But the Cardinals lesser half has been solid on the road this season, limiting home teams to an average of 17.4 points per game. Consequently, Ken Whisenhunt's squad has posted a 6-2 record outside of Arizona, winning by an average of 7.7 points per game.
Look for the Kurt Warner and company to remain competitive in this Divisional showdown as they have excelled in the dog role of late. The Cards are 8-2 straight up and 10-0 against the spread in their last 10 games as a mutt.
Saints Breakdown: New Orleans looked invincible most of the season, winning with offense, opportunistic defense, and general good fortune, but some of the shine came off in the final three weeks as the Saints fell to the Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Panthers. Not only did New Orleans lose those games, their top rated offense looked pedestrain at best, posting a 14.7 point per game average.
Odds makers and pundits are figuring the week of rest is exactly what Drew Brees and his cohorts needed, not only to heal up, but also to put the last three weeks in the rearview mirror.
The line here only makes sense, at least to this writer, with turnovers in mind. The Saints were +11 on the season while the Cardinals were -7 in the turnover department. Obviously, people are expecting Arizona to cough up the ball, which in turn will lead to points on the board for Sean Payton's squad. However, not only was the Cardinals defense better on the road, so was their ball security. While they were still in the negative at -2, they were +3 outside of a seven turnover outing at San Francisco.
Arizona Cardinals +7 (-115), Over 57.5 (-110), +235 (Moneyline)
New Orleans Saints -7 (-105), Under 57.5 (-110), -275 (Moneyline)
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